Can anyone comment on the other locations? Question 2 on their website beer picker was "what colour beer do you normally drink?" which is concerning. But in the end it recommended Arrogant Bastard, so I'm holding out hope.

Big, corporate looking venues in Calgary & Edmonton, but they do bring in good beers (or at least in Alberta they do). Beer always seems fresh, food is good, some staff are knowledgeable, They do work a lot with local brewers to do dinners, beer releases, festivals.

The printed tap menu was out of date probably the instant it came off the press, with many, many beers unavailable (they had multiple Stone City's and I was told they don't have a relationship with them anymore) and some never having been there in the first place (it listed Founders).

There was no chalkboard or other menu to actually list what was available on tap. And to expect the young ladies/gents working the floor to remember 100+ beers is unrealistic, and they just could not recite even a fraction of what the actual beer lineup was.

So it was remarkably frustrating to try and determine what was available, so I resorted to eyeballing the taps which everyone can appreciate is a fruitless exercise.

We basically resorted to asking about specific breweries to see if they had anything and ordered accordingly.

Sometimes too many taps really is too many if not managed properly. I think they only advice I have for people visiting in Ottawa is to sit at the bar as the bartenders probably (likely definitely) know exactly what's on tap.

Besides that, it was a crazy large place in Ottawa terms and you can't deny they go big with their beer. They had lots of local brews from the 613 which was nice to see. I just wish I could figure out what they were.

The Vancouver location is architecturally nice (a renovated salt house), the food was decent (the few snacks I tried), they had a lot of taps and my server was pretty knowledgeable. After that my praise for the place runs out.

It is painfully loud. Big screens with different junk on, all with the volume turned up and competing with the piped in 'music' at full blast. They are definitely on the bandwagon of make it loud so people think it's fun. I guess people don't talk to each other at restaurants or bars anymore.

As for all those taps. Quantity definitely didn't equal quality.

I don't recall prices, but somehow I seem to remember them being reasonable at least.

I definitely wouldn't bother to visit again, not given the many better choices in Vancouver. Heck, I think Toronto offers better alternatives as well. Bar Hop comes to mind, but they also have jumped on the loud as hell trend on some days. A stupid way to chase your customers away...

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Torontoblue wrote:Big, corporate looking venues...but they do bring in good beers...Beer always seems fresh, food is good, some staff are knowledgeable. They do work a lot with local brewers to do dinners, beer releases, festivals. You shouldn't be disappointed.

Based on my experience at the Edmonton location, I would agree with Torontoblue and say I'm cautiously optimistic about them coming here. Granted, Ontario licensees don't have access to the range of products that Alberta bars do, so that will affect things, but they seem to know what they're doing in terms of procuring and pouring great beer. Hopefully the Toronto location avoids the menu mishaps that Cass encountered in Ottawa. Fingers crossed.

"Bar people do not live as long as vegan joggers. However, they have more fun." - Bruce Elliott

It's been a few years since I've bern to the Calgary location, but I don't have much of an itch to revisit. A super loud party atmosphere attracts a certain clientele, lets say. Staff were hit or miss on level of general knowlege or even and what was currently available. Menues not up to date. Some quality beers but also a large chunk of "crafty" macro. Rare but occasional line cleanliness issues. In comparison to other similar establishments in Calgary (National and Beer Revolution) they were a distant third.

think we are past the point of being excited about a bar like this.we've hit a definite wall. until keg distribution opens up/is reformed and we actually get national keg "imports" or some good micros from the US, we're in a weird ONCON phase.ontario content on tap, with no reason to choose Bar A vs Bar K vs staying at home and drinking

atomeyes wrote:we've hit a definite wall. until keg distribution opens up/is reformed and we actually get national keg "imports" or some good micros from the US, we're in a weird ONCON phase.ontario content on tap, with no reason to choose Bar A vs Bar K vs staying at home and drinking

You are entirely correct. It is so incredibly prohibitive for keg imports in this province. Working on the agency side, believe me, I could vent about it for awhile...

And unfortunately I don't see that changing soon. The conversation is still about being able to buy OCB in grocery stores, so little attention has ever been paid to the corrupt racket that goes on with keg imports (or consignment licensing, for that matter).

atomeyes wrote:we've hit a definite wall. until keg distribution opens up/is reformed and we actually get national keg "imports" or some good micros from the US, we're in a weird ONCON phase.ontario content on tap, with no reason to choose Bar A vs Bar K vs staying at home and drinking

You are entirely correct. It is so incredibly prohibitive for keg imports in this province. Working on the agency side, believe me, I could vent about it for awhile...

And unfortunately I don't see that changing soon. The conversation is still about being able to buy OCB in grocery stores, so little attention has ever been paid to the corrupt racket that goes on with keg imports (or consignment licensing, for that matter).

maybe you can explain so people understand what's prohibitive? i barely know the details. but those out there that don't leave our province much are probably clueless as to how draught beer selection's supposed to work.

in ontario, we're just fostering mediocrity. put out a beer and SOMEONE will put it on tap just to be different. it doesn't have to be good. it just has to be out. or you just have to Ace Hill or Henderson it and everyone will carry your beer. magically. as if there's zero incentive to carry your cans or draught.